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August 7, 2026

The largest copyright case in U.S. history is expected to start paying out around August 10, pricing the books used to train Anthropic's models at about $3,000 each across 440,490 claimed works.

4 min read2026-08-07
Copyright

The Anthropic settlement's first payments are estimated days away, at about $3,000 a work1

Anthropic's copyright settlement has moved past final approval into its distribution phase, and the administrator estimates the first payments will go out around August 10.1 Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín granted final approval and entered judgment on July 20, closing the case known as Bartz v. Anthropic.2 Of 482,460 works on the settlement list, 440,490, about 91 percent, were claimed before the window closed, each set to receive roughly $3,000 before accrued interest.3 It is the largest copyright class action in U.S. history, and that per-work figure is its lasting mark: a court-approved price for the books Anthropic copied to train its models without a license, and a benchmark for the licensing fights still to come.4

Bartz, et al. v. Anthropic PBC U.S. District Court, N.D. Cal. · No. 3:24-cv-5417
Stage
Final judgment entered July 20, 2026; distribution underway
Question
Whether copying books without a license to train a model infringed the authors' copyrights
Stakes
A $1.5 billion fund; about $3,000 for each of 440,490 claimed works
Energy

A Trump-appointed judge orders the Pentagon to restart the wind reviews it froze5

Until Thursday, at least 125 utility-scale wind projects across 25 states were stranded because the Pentagon had stopped reviewing them for conflicts with military radar.6 U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut, a Trump appointee in Oregon, issued a preliminary injunction ordering the Defense Department to resume those reviews and to file a status report every 30 days on whether it has.56 She found the department had missed the deadlines Congress set for the reviews, a violation of the Administrative Procedure Act that the plaintiffs, a coalition of trade associations, wind developers, and environmental groups, were likely to prove.6 The Pentagon had defended the freeze by citing turbine "Doppler interference" with radar and drone detection. The order lets the projects advance while that claim is litigated rather than after.7

Transparency

A federal court voids the Energy Department's blanket "still interested" FOIA rule8

A federal agency cannot clear its records backlog by making requesters ask for the same documents twice.9 On August 5, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson vacated the Energy Department's "Still Interested" inquiry, which had required anyone with a FOIA request filed before October 1, 2024 to email the department and reconfirm they still wanted the records or have the request closed.89 Jackson held that FOIA "does not authorize" a blanket requirement that all requesters "reiterate their interest in pending requests."9 The nonprofit American Oversight brought the suit, and the ruling shuts a quiet route agencies had used to shed old requests without ever answering them.10

Economy

American workers' real pay fell 3.1 percent last quarter as their output rose11

American workers produced more per hour in the second quarter and took home less for it.11 Nonfarm labor productivity rose 1.4 percent at an annual rate while real hourly compensation, which accounts for consumer prices, fell 3.1 percent.11 Unit labor costs rose just 1.3 percent, and in manufacturing they were flat, a 1.9 percent pay gain matched exactly by a 1.9 percent gain in output per hour.11 Labor's share of what it produces fell to 52.9 percent, the lowest since the series began in 1947.12

Prices

Services kept growing in July while prices stayed hot and hiring slipped13

The service sector expanded for a 25th consecutive month in July, though not on every front.13 The ISM Services index read 54.1 percent, up a tenth of a point from June, as business activity jumped 3.7 points to 59.1 percent.13 The employment index sat at 47.4 percent, back in contraction after reaching 51.2 percent in June, and the prices index held at 70.3 percent.1314 Prices paid for services have now stayed above 60 percent for twenty straight months.13 Service firms are busier and paying more for what they buy while trimming their own payrolls.14

59.1%Business activity
47.4%Employment, contracting
70.3%Prices paid

Sources

  1. Anthropic Copyright Settlement · Official settlement administrator FAQ, payment timing and distribution
  2. The Authors Guild · Court grants final approval of Anthropic copyright settlement
  3. The Authors Guild · Anthropic settlement update — 91 percent of books claimed
  4. TechCrunch · Anthropic's landmark $1.5B copyright settlement is approved
  5. CourtListener · Renewable Northwest v. Hegseth, federal docket and preliminary-injunction order
  6. NOTUS · The Pentagon must resume reviewing wind projects, judge says
  7. The Washington Times · Judge orders DOD to end blockade of wind energy projects
  8. Federal Register · Notice of the Department of Energy FOIA "Still Interested" inquiry
  9. Federal News Network · Judge throws out DOE's blanket "still interested" FOIA policy
  10. FOIA Advisor · Energy's broad "still-interested" notice struck down
  11. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · Productivity and Costs, Second Quarter 2026, Preliminary
  12. Market Business News · U.S. nonfarm productivity rises as workers' share of output hits record low
  13. Institute for Supply Management · Services PMI at 54.1%, July 2026 ISM Services PMI report
  14. Brisk Markets · U.S. ISM Services PMI rises to 54.1 in July